


Finding A Home For Christmas

by AJP_37



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas, Family Feels, First Kiss, Lube, M/M, New Years, Sharing a Bed, oh my god they were room mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 06:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17360627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJP_37/pseuds/AJP_37
Summary: Nolan had never been embarrassed by his family, so when his suspension from school fell at the same time that his mother brought two teenagers to stay for Christmas, Nolan was more than happy to share his room.But the longer that Nolan was in close proximity with Brett, the more butterflies seemed to take up residence in his tummy.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is really just a bit of domestic self indulgence.

Nolan Holloway had never once been embarrassed by his family.

They weren’t traditional by any means. As a child, he’d been allowed to go to ballet lessons while his sister played little league. Eventually he’d found lacrosse and his sister the piano, which hadn’t stopped him from also keeping a journal of poetry while his sister had asked for a dirt bike instead of a car for her sweet sixteenth. Each year their family celebrated a ‘non-denominational holiday season’, where they were encouraged to do kind things, learn about other cultures and spend quality time with their family and friends instead of focusing on the materialism that Christmas seemed to bring with it.

They were warm and honest and their home overflowed with love and respect that it wasn’t until he moved to Beacon Hills at the start of his senior year, that it even occurred to him that embarrassment was even an option.

Not that it was an option he ever wanted to entertain. 

To start off with it was the usual questions that came with a new school in a new town;

‘Was his mother the new Judge at the courthouse?’ Asked the school’s guidance counsellor as she showed him and his sister around their new school.

‘Yes.’ He’d replied with pride, his mother’s promotion the source of their move and something their whole family had agreed was the best move for them.

‘Was his mother the new supervising case manager for children’s services?’ Asked the nurse with a warm smile and curly brown hair, when he went into the hospital for an immunisation catch up he had missed by changing schools.

‘Yep, that was her.’ Again, so prideful. His mother hadn’t had trouble finding a job once their move was announced.

He’d managed to fly under the radar all through the fall and right up until the week before Christmas break before someone put two and two together and came up with lesbian mothers.

It was in English class, the teacher proposing scenarios for the students to debate each lesson. They would have time to brainstorm, prepare and then answer the teacher’s proposition. In this lesson, the teacher had chosen to discuss ‘gay marriage’ and it had shaken Nolan out of his daze, sitting in the back of the room, doodling in his note book when some jock had loudly started in on him.

“Why don’t we ask Nolan?” The guy, Gabe, had said, throwing a smirk over his shoulder. “I mean, gay parents with a gay kid? I guess we’ll have to see which team his sister plays for to prove the point.”

Nolan open and closed his mouth in shock, the whole class looking at him to see his reaction. Nolan closed his binder, shoving everything into his bag before pulling out his hard covered Biology textbook, using it to slam into Gabe’s face on his way out of the room. The satisfying crunch fuelling him past the open mouths of shock.

“I’ll take myself to the principal’s office.” Nolan said to his teacher as she bustled past with a box of tissues for Gabe’s bloodied nose.

By the time he got to office, the school secretary merely gestured to the principal’s open door, clearly having been told to expect him. Glancing around at the cheap Christmas decorations covering the office, Nolan wandered into principal’s office, sitting down across from Ms Martin who already had his file open in front of her. 

Before coming to Beacon Hills, Nolan had gone to a high school that specialised in the arts, where he had been encouraged to express himself through poetry, painting, song and dance, as well as sports, and Nolan could find a balance between lacrosse and more creative pursuits that suited him.The kids he’d gone to school with had understood him and his idiosyncrecies and generally let him be. It had been a long time since he had a freak out this bad and the first time that one had ended with him smacking a kid in the face. 

Usually, he was more of a flight than a fight kinda weirdo.

“Mr Holloway? Nolan?” Ms Martin said, clearing her throat. “I know the school you came from was very liberal, and I hate to tell you this, but I’m sure you’ve seen Mean Girls; it is literally a jungle out there.”

Nolan looked at the woman, wondering why she was warning him about public school rather than doling out the punishment that he knew he was going to recieve. 

“You know what he said right?” Nolan asked cautiously “about my family? How am I meant to react?”

“I am aware.” Ms Martin said, looking at his open file in front of her. “and while I’m not allowed to say that Gabe deserved to be hit in the face with a history book-“

“Biology.” Nolan interjected.

“Biology book then. You have to understand that my hands are tied in regards to suspending you.”

Nolan glowered. He knew it was coming. 

His mothers were not going to be happy at all.

He didn’t have to wait very long to find out. The moment his Mama stalked into the office, fluffing her short hair back into order, she started barking orders and sending the secretaries scattering. Nolan looked at Ms Martin, silently pleading to hide him in the office to no avail.

His parents had never really been strict with him, but up until he slammed his book into Gabe’s face, he’d never really given them a reason to be. So based on their reaction to other mishaps, he could imagine their reaction, and really, the unknowing was the scariest part of all. 

As his mother answered a rather hostile phone call, from the clipped conversation, apparently with his Lovey, filling her in with what had happened, Nolan slid towards the door, keen to get his punishment out of the way.

His mama had hung up the phone, handed her card to the principal to be passed on to the parents of the ‘little bigot’ with instructions to only call if ‘the little shit’s nose has to be removed.’

Instead of yelling and taking him home like he had expected, his mother was painfully silent as she stalked out of the school. Sitting in the front of her SUV, Nolan chewed at his thumb nail, wishing that she would yell and they could put all of this behind them and move on.

Having only lived in Beacon Hills for a matter of a few months, it took a moment to realise that they were not on their way home, instead heading in the direction of the city and in particular the courthouse where his Lovey, his other mother, worked. 

“Mama- I- we don’t need to bother Lovey at work!” Nolan squeaked as they pulled into the car park, his mother using her work pass to get them into the car park.

“We’re not going to bother her. I have clients who need to see a judge and by then Lovey should be done with her session so you can wait outside her chambers.”

Nolan groaned, he took it that his mother had no idea that he had been suspended yet and definitely would not be happy to see him sitting outside off her rooms.

As his mother signed them into the building, collecting a visitor’s pass for Nolan and slapping it onto his chest. Nolan glanced around, this court house was similar to the last one his mother had worked in, when she had been a district attorney. He had always loved it when the court cases were open to the public and he was on his school holidays. He would bring his sketch book and set up behind the courtroom artist, focusing on the details they took and trying to copy while bringing his own flavour to the work. His mother would ooh and ah afterwards, taking him back to her office and showing off her clever son to all of her co- workers.

Now, with his suspension forms shoved into the front pocket of his backpack, he doubted that his mother would be showing him off.

“Oh there’s Brett and Lori, perfect.” His mum said, gesturing to two teenagers sitting in the maroon vinyl seats outside of courtroom four. Despite her anger in the car, she still kissed the side of his head before pointing at the two teenagers. “Wait with them and make small talk while I speak to the lawyer or Lovey finishes and collects you.”

With a click of heels on the polished floors, his mother was disappearing up some steps and around the corner. Nolan turned his attention to the teenagers, the blonde girl, Lori he guessed, was slumped in her seat, headphones in and focused on her phone. The boy, way too tall for the uncomfortable chair, seemed to be folded in on himself, his hair hanging into eyes that seemed to observe everything that went on. In truth this guy, Brett, was beautiful. He didn’t seem to be that much older than Nolan, and if he was a client of his mother’s he couldn’t be. His hair was messy and sun kissed, longer in the front and curled around his ears with darker scruff growing on his jaw and down his throat, making a tinge of jealousy spark in Nolan’s chest. His lips were pouty and full, making Nolan wonder just what had happened to make this beautiful boy seem so unhappy.

Nolan dropped his bag next to a chair on the other side of the hallway, settling himself into an uncomfortable chair.

“Hi.” He said after a moment. Deciding to go for broke. “I’m Nolan.”

“Brett.” The boy grunted, looking away from Nolan and down the hallway. Nolan shrugged, pulling out his math book and a pen, balancing it on his lap and getting to work.

He was halfway through his second equation when he realised that pale blue eyes were fixed on him. Trying to focus back on the task at hand, it took until the last line of the equation, when his answer just didn’t make sense, for Nolan to slam down his pen and lock eyes with the boy across the hall.

“You right there?”

“Just wondering why you’re not at school.” Brett said, narrowing his eyes. The girl, Lori, pulling one headphone out to look between them curiously. I didn’t think the even the public school let kids out during frees.”

“I got suspended.” Nolan said, wondering how this Brett could possibly know he went to Beacon Hills High School until he remembered the large emblem on his backpack.

“Your mum is a social worker and you got suspended from school?” Brett drawled, his sister removing her remaining headphone and winding the cord around her phone with interest. “I’m supposed to believe that.”

“My other mum’s a judge but still here I am, suspended from school.” Nolan said sarcastically, picking up his pen with little intention to go on with his math homework.

Brett leaned forward onto his thighs and smiled slyly while firing questions at Nolan.

This wasn’t the first time that Nolan had met one of his mother’s clients. Throughout his childhood she would bring kids through their house; feeding them, bathing them and giving them hand-me-downs before they would go on to foster care. 

Since his mother had moved up the ladder, the actual dealing with kids became fewer and farther between, until now where she would oversee everything and only come in first hand to run the big, complex cases. 

If these kids had anything to do with his mother, their situation couldn’t be great, Nolan thought to himself and maybe Brett’s incessant questioning had more to do with distracting him and his sister from what ever had them at the courthouse just before everything closed down for christmas.

“I broke a homophobes nose with a biology textbook if you must know.” Nolan said, putting his book back into his bag. Lori seemed to light up at this, elbowing her brother.

“You broke someone’s nose?” Brett said, his face losing all trace of melancholy as he flashed a truly blinding smile.

Nolan couldn’t help but thank the universe for making Gabe a homophobic jerk who deserved the broken nose, because the revelation made Brett positively glow from the inside out.

All in all, it made Nolan feel like his day was a success.

“I always heard that public school was like fight club.” Brett smiled, completely transformed from the glowering teen that had been sitting in the chair when Nolan had arrived.

“Well if you heard about it then someone has broken the first rule.” Nolan bit his bottom lip to try and hide his smile. “You don’t talk about fight club.”

“Nolan Gene Holloway!” a voice called from down the hall, breaking Nolan from the trance Brett had him in.

For most of his life, his Lovey, Caroline, had been the enforcer parent. Always loving and fair, but nearly always the one to hand out the punishment, so it was only normal that Nolan would feel a shiver run down his spine at the thought that she was now here and clearly ready to dole out his sentence. 

Now, Nolan flinched, grabbing at his back pack as if it would protect him from the maternal wrath of his Lovey.

His mother exchanged her judge’s robes for her bag with her assistant as she strutted down the hallway, flicking her curly hair over her shoulder.

“Lovey I-“ Nolan tried, only to be cut off abruptly by his mother holding up her hand.

All he could do was stand pitifully, looking at Brett and praying for salvation only to see Brett settle back into his chair, his eyes back on the floor. 

“Do not Lovey me young man.” His mother huffed, grabbing him by the arm and leading him down the hallway barely even giving him enough time to put on his coat so that all he could do was throw a wave over his shoulder at Brett and Lori and hope that they saw it.

By the time they got to the car, he was all but panicking at what she was going to say to him.

“Mama came to talk to me during a recess.” She said once she slid into the driver seat of her car, hitting the ignition button making the car purr to life. “She told me what happened.” 

“Did she tell me what the guy said?” Nolan asked, fiddling with the controls on his side of the dashboard, adjusting the heating until he was happy.

“She did.” Lovey said, looking at him over the top of her glasses as she pulled out of the car park. “And did you have a stroke and forget that we raised you to know that violence is never the answer.”

“Lovey, I-“ Nolan started, only to be cut off yet again.

“Baby boy, you are better than hitting a kid in the face with your art book.” She said, heading out of the city towards the suburbs. “You know in the real world that is assault and would land you with a criminal record and potentially hard time.”

“Lovey, I know this.” Nolan said, putting his feet up onto the dashboard and looking out the window at the myriad of Christmas decorations spewed all over the town.

“See this is the problem with schools, you’ve grown up thinking the worst that happens when you assault someone is you get three days off.” His mother huffed her hands waving as she spoke. “Was it a mistake moving here? Are you acting out?” 

Nolan looked at his mother sceptically, other than that one guy in his English class, Nolan really liked Beacon Hills. He liked the lacrosse team and the kids on it. He had found some kids that were friendly enough so he didn’t have to eat his lunch at home, and really, he liked just how happy his parents were here.

“When have I ever acted out?” Nolan said, sliding further down in his seat.

“Well there was the time when you had an ear infection and didn’t want to see the paediatrician and so you punched the wall.” She said pulling into the supermarket car park and cursing when the sheer volume of Christmas week shoppers came into view.

“Not my finest moment.” Nolan nodded, “I cannot be blamed for anything that happens when I have a fever.”

“Then there was the time when we brought your sister home from the hospital and in retaliation you kept calling 911 anytime she made a stink.” Lovey laughed. “We had to put all the phones on top of the fridge until Kaley was toilet trained.”

Nolan sulked, following his mother into the supermarket.

“So what is my punishment?” Nolan asked while his mother was picking out the perfect cherries. “Or do I have to wait for you and Mama to discuss it?”

“No, she’s given me authority to rule on this.” Lovey said, placing the fruit into the trolley and moving on. “And until I speak to the teacher who thought debating the human rights of 2 million people was appropriate, I am reserving my verdict.”

Nolan laughed, glad that he wasn’t going to be on the receiving end of his mother’s social justice tirade.

Errands done, they returned to their house, another thing that Nolan liked about Beacon Hills. Thanks to reasonably stable housing prices, his parents had been able to get a beautiful house on the edge of town and get it to a point where it was almost self-sustainable. Before they had moved in, they’d had solar panels put on the roof and a grey water tank put into the back yard. The whole house had been re-insulated and then once they had moved in, they had started work on their vegetable garden.

Moving from an apartment, his parents were determined to go all out and make their new house their dream home.

Just the weekend before, they’d spent a long time stringing up solar powered Christmas lights, which were just starting to switch on as they pulled in the driveway behind his Mama’s car.

Nothing really struck Nolan as different until they got to the kitchen with the bags of shopping, finding the Brett and Lori from the courthouse sitting at the kitchen island with his own sister, all with mugs of hot chocolate in front of them.

“Well hello there.” Lovey said, putting down the shopping and slinging her work bag onto the floor before pecking her wife on the lips in greeting before moving on to Kaley and kissing the top of her head. “Daughter mine, can you help your delinquent brother put away the groceries.”

“Lovey, this is Brett and Lori. They’re going to be staying here for a couple of days while we work out some accommodation.” His Mama said, gesturing at the two kids and pulling a pot from the cupboard next to the stove.

“Well hi kids.” Lovey smiled warmly. “You may not have heard but our son Nolan here thinks it’s ok to wield textbooks as mighty weapons. But I promise that our house is normally quite safe.”

“Thank you so much, Judge Holloway.” Brett said politely, making Nolan lock back onto the conversation as he put away the groceries not needed for their dinner. “Mrs Holloway said that at this time of year we would have to be separated and go into group homes at this time of year. So we are really grateful you and your family are willing to have us.”

“Our pleasure Brett.” Lovey smiled, pulling out two glasses and motioning for her wife to grab a bottle. “Now, I have to apologise but the sofa bed in my office is actually not something I would wish on my worst enemy, so Lori you will be in with Kaley on her trundle and Noley, I need you to set up your couch bed for Brett.”

“Got it Lovey.” Kaley smiled, leaving the rest of the groceries for Nolan to put away. “I’ll go find fresh sheets. Lori will you help?”

Lori smiled shyly, taking her backpack with her as she followed Kaley as she bounced up the stairs.

Dinner was an uneventful experience. Nolan’s mothers taking turns to ask questions, getting basic information out of their house guests, while filling them in on some of the day to day facts about their lives.

It turned out that Brett played lacrosse at Devenford Prep and in fact was the captain of the team. His sister Lori was on an art scholarship and the same age as Kaley. They were fans of the pasta that had been served up, but for future reference Lori was allergic to shellfish.

It wasn’t until Nolan walked into his bedroom after loading the dishwasher to find a shirtless Brett looking curiously at the grey chaise couch in his bedroom that he realised just how much trouble he was really in.

“It’s from Ikea.” Nolan squeaked, shaking himself from his stupor and pushing past Brett to busy himself. He quickly converted the couch to a bed, Brett joining him with the fresh linen his sister had left. They worked quickly, Nolan focusing on the smell of fresh sheets to try and distract him from the ripple and play of Brett’s muscles. “My moms have been obsessed with Ikea ever since they started building those one room houses for refugees.” Nolan explained, grabbing a pillow and shoving it into a pillowslip.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Ikea?” Brett muttered when the bed was made, picking up his school bag and rummaging through until he pulled out the pieces of his school uniform. “Do uh, you guys have an iron I can use to get my uniform ready for tomorrow? I’m always useless in the mornings.” Brett said, looking slightly bashful.

“Uh, yeah.” Nolan nodded quickly, motioning for Brett to follow him back downstairs, pausing when Brett knocked ducked into Kaley’s open door and emerging with her uniform as well.

Back down In the kitchen, his mothers were finishing up their wine, putting away dishes and talking quietly between themselves until Nolan walked in, pointing Brett to the laundry room.

“We’ll have a list of jobs ready for you tomorrow morning.” Lovey said, swirling her wine in her glass, the notepad and pen open in front of her. “Just because you’re home from school does not give you an excuse to slack off.”

Nolan nodded, grateful his parents hadn't flayed him alive like he was expecting.

“It won’t be anything to greuling. You can wash some windows and give the bathrooms a real good clean.” Mama continued. “Do some laundry etcetera.” 

Nolan continued to stand in the doorway, his mother’s rattling off jobs to fill his time before they would all be home for Christmas week. In what felt like no time, Brett’s warm body was at Nolan’s back and his parent’s faces were softening considerably.

“I borrowed a couple of hangers for our uniforms.” Brett said, holding up the neatly pressed school uniforms for he and his sister. 

“Oh I didn't even think about school clothes!” His mama exclaimed.”Our kids have always been in public school. Now, you and Lori will be catching a ride with me tomorrow, and then if you two can walk over to the high school and Caroline will pick you all up when Kaley finishes her music lesson.”

Plans made, Nolan let his both of his mother's kiss his cheeks, Lovey whispering quickly in his ear;

“This might be all the punishment you need, baby. We really are sorry we didn't ask you about sharing your space. Mama asked your sister and we just assumed it would be fine.”

Nolan looked between his parents, blushing at their concerned looks. 

“It's fine, Lovey. I’ll be fine.” He said, quickly motioning for Brett to follow him back up stairs.

As a child, Nolan had had a real quirk about people in the personal space of his bedroom. His mothers had always been so good about it, never asking him to give up his bed whenever extra relatives came for the holidays like some of his friends had to endure. In this new bigger house was the first time that both his and Kayley’s rooms were big enough for pull out beds or trundles and he was sure that his mother’s way of encouraging him to make friends and have sleepovers. 

Like he was still a little boy. 

Nolan wondered, as he stuck his head into Kaley’s room to say good night if maybe Brett would like to be his friend. They had lacrosse in common, at least that was a start. 

After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash up and change into his pyjamas, he came back into his room to find Brett looking down at a new toothbrush, still in its packaging. 

“I don't have any toothpaste.” Brett said quietly. “Would you mind if I?” 

“Of course!” Nolan exclaimed, pointing to his ensuite without hesitation. “on the counter and I think I also have some disposable razors in the cupboard behind the mirror if you need to shave before school.”

At this, Brett only smiled sadly and nodded slowly for a moment.

“If you don't mind? Although I think being put back in the foster care system the week before Christmas might get Sister Agatha off my back about the face fuzz.” 

“Your school has actual nuns?” Nolan called, jumping into his own bed and snuggling under his comforter. 

“Just a couple left from the last ice age.” Brett called back, “It’s not exactly a booming profession.” 

Nolan smiled, laying back in his bed and listening to Brett rummaging around in his bathroom cupboards. It took a long moment and a choked noise from Brett to remember that that morning after being interrupted by his sister he’d hastily shoved half a bottle of lube and a beginner’s butt plug into his bathroom cabinet to dry before he would hide them away again under his mattress when he got home from school.

That was the plan at least, until he his a guy in the face with his bio book. 

Shit. 

Nolan froze up in his bed, gripping his sheets and waiting for Brett to come out of the bathroom and demand to sleep on Lovey’s painful pull out bed in her office. 

Instead, Nolan could only hear the sound of shaving cream and Brett starting to him to himself as he lathered it onto his face. 

Not the reaction he expected at all. 

Nolan lay in bed, focusing on the sound around him and letting it soothe him until sleep came.


	2. Chapter Two

It was strange waking to the sounds of another person in the room. 

With the the pale light of morning flooding in through the window, Nolan buried down further into his sheets, glowering at Brett as he staggered about the room and ignoring just how good Brett looked. 

In his room.

Doing up his tie.

School boy fantasies aside, the chilly morning air made Nolan grateful for his suspension and any extra time that he could spend in bed. 

“God your house is cold in the morning.” Brett muttered, from the sounds, shoving things into his backpack. “Just like being back on the street.” 

This made Nolan freeze, at dinner the night before the circumstances of Brett and Lori coming to stay hadn’t come up. The family just understood that if Mama deemed it necessary, then it must be. 

Nolan waited until Brett left the room to go down stairs before jumping out of bed and finding his robe before, rushing to his sister’s room and catching her before she went down stairs. 

“Did Lori say anything about why they’re here?” Nolan asked, stumbling into his sister’s room just after Lori had followed her brother down for breakfast. 

“Yeah, we braided each other’s hair and shared all our biggest secrets.” Kaley said, rolling her eyes. “You know what Mama does, if she let them stay it cannot be good.” 

“Yeah that’s what I was thinking.” Nolan hummed, sitting down on her bed and watching as she finished spraying down her hair with dry shampoo before flipping her hair over and securing it into a messy bun on top of her head. 

“Did you get any sleep or did you spend the whole night just listening to Brett breathe?” Kaley hummed, checking her work in the mirror and placing in bobby pins where she thought the hair might come loose. 

“I slept fine.” Nolan said, scrunching his face into the reflection in the mirror and then copying when Kaley stuck out her tongue. 

Nolan and his sister had always had quite a close relationship, arguing and bickering sometimes but more often than not were a pretty solid team. 

“At dinner last night he kept looking at you.” She shrugged, grabbing her school bag and loading the last of her books in. “Like, looking looking.”

“You don’t know what your talking about.” Nolan said, glaring at her. “He wasn’t looking at me like anything.”

“Sure, sure. Noley.” Kaley smiled sweetly, zipping up her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. “You keep believing that boys don’t look at your twinky self with eyes.” 

Before Nolan could respond, most probably by throwing a pillow in her direction, their Mama slipped into the room. 

“Good morning my babies.” She smiled warmly, kissing Kaley before picking up her towel and throwing it over the door to her bathroom. “Everyone slept fine?” 

“We sure did Mama.” Kaley smiled sweetly. “Noley is a big fan of his new room mate.” 

“Brett?” Their mother grinned at her son. “Well he’s a bit scruffier than I thought was your type.” 

“I don’t have a type, Mama.” Nolan groaned, throwing himself back onto his sisters bed and burying himself into her sheets to hide. “And any way he shaved his face last night.”

“Oh I see.” Mama said, earning a laugh from Kaley which signaled that she was pulling a face. “We are mourning the death of the scruff. Long may it live in our memories.”

God, why did he have to have a family of comedians. 

“Well, Lovey is leaving the list for you on the bench downstairs when you are done having your gay crisis.” 

“Mama!” Nolan groaned, drawing out her name and digging is face into one of the faux fur pillows on his sisters bed. 

“Yes just because he’s having a crisis, doesnt mean its a gay one.” Lovey said, obviously summoned to join in with Nolan’s pain. “Kaley, you have 10 minutes to get some food into you before we are out the door.” 

“Right Lovey, Bye Noley, have a good day..” His sister said sweetly, leaving the room. Nolan felt the bed dip on both sides, both of his mother’s sitting down. 

“Now Nolan. There will be no sex, drugs or violence while we are gone are we clear.” Lovey said, placing her hand on the lump in the bedding that Nolan had become. 

“Your list of jobs is on the kitchen bench.” Mama added, “Along with a credit card.” 

“Which we are giving you to complete the list of jobs. Not as a reward for punching that kid.” Lovey added, “Just to be clear.” 

“I understand” Nolan mumbled, hugging his sisters pillow tighter and letting himself drift back to sleep. 

***

When Nolan woke again, it was to an empty house. 

For a while, he wandered around in his pyjamas, making a coffee and looking at the list left for him. 

Definitely enough to keep him busy for his three day suspension. 

Not worrying about getting dressed for the day, Nolan did a loop of the house, collecting dirty clothes from hampers and towels from the bathroom. He hesitated for a moment at Brett’s clothes from the day before. They were neatly folded at the end of the sofa bed, the bed put back into its ‘sofa’ position with the sheets folded on top as if Brett didn’t expect to be staying there for very long. 

The idea of Brett feeling temporary just didn’t sit right with Nolan, so quickly, he added the clothes to his washing basket, taking them down stairs and throwing them into the washing machine. 

While the machine ran it’s cycle, he unloaded the dishwasher, reloading it with the breakfast dishes from that morning. He checked the fridge and started a shopping list, pulling out scraps as he went to take down to their chickens when he went to check for eggs. 

Nolan wasted a lot of time on his phone, only getting up from the couch to swap the washing over into the dryer and to make himself something to eat. Once all of the washing was done, dried and piled up on the kitchen table, Nolan got to work folding and delivering neat piles to the room it belonged in, all the while youtube videos played on the tv in the living room. 

If he had to be suspended, at least he could make the most of it and catch up on his viewing. 

When he was lost in a spiral of cute youtube couples taking part in cuter challenges, all the while fantasising of what Brett’s pouty lips would taste like covered in candy cane flavoured chapstick, he was sideswiped by what Brett might think when it came to his washed clothes.Nolan looked at the small pile of clothes and frowned. The way that his Mama was talking Brett and Lori would be staying with them through the holidays. Christmas Day was still a week away and then there would be the week after until the new year that they would be staying with them. Here, all Brett had was a pair of light brown chinos and a blue long sleeve henley. Nolan couldn’t even remember the boy wearing a coat the day before and while they lived in California, this time of year still got chilly. 

For anyone, one school uniform and one change of clothes just did not seem like enough belongings. 

This definitely would not do. 

In his room, Nolan paused before he returned the clean clothes to their former spot on the end of the sofa. Instead he went to his chest of drawers, opening the top two drawers and shoving all of his own belongings into one before placing Brett’s clothes in the now empty drawer. 

This was a bit better. 

Noise from downstairs broke Nolan out of his reverie; laughter and chatter as everyone came in from their day at work and school. Nolan hurried downstairs, happy to be no longer left to only his thoughts. 

“Hey baby.” Lovey said, kissing Nolan’s cheek on her way through to the kitchen, sticking her head into the laundry room to pull out coat hangers for Brett and Lori’s blazers and sending them to go hang up their uniforms so she could throw their shirts into the washing machine. 

“Have you told him yet?” Kaley said gleefully, bouncing in from outside, dropping her school bag and hanging up her coat all with a gleaming white smile plastered on her face.. 

“I walked in two seconds before you.” Lovey said, rolling her eyes and pointing at Kaley’s bag until she picked it up and moved it from the floor to where it belonged. “Give me a chance.” 

“What happened?” Nolan asked, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind supplying multiple options for just what could have his sister this excited. 

“Gabe’s parents contacted me, apparently his dad is some big wig in some construction company.” Lovey said, heading to the wine rack and pulling out a bottle to inspect the label. . “Apparently darling Gabe had a contract to do some modelling in Brazil or something and they wanted to sue us for loss of income.” 

Nolan paled. He sister grinned. 

“And?” Nolan asked, fearing the worst. 

“Well to start with none of the barristers in town were willing to get into bed with them.” Lovey smiled, “Something along the the lines of not wanting to get on the bad side of one of the few judges in the county.” 

“Tell him the rest Lovey!” Kaley said, hopping up onto the kitchen bench. 

“Well when legal action didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere, Gabe and his father had me summoned to Ms Martin’s office this afternoon where I informed them that if they continued this any further, we would be forced to counter sue and have Gabe charged with hate crimes.” 

“Heaps of kids are standing up to Gabe and his friends since you did!” Kaley said excitedly, “Their parents are calling in to the school to ask why this bully hasn’t been dealt with before someone had to snot him!” 

“Really?” Nolan asked, he’d never really warmed to Gabe during training for lacrosse and had heard rumours that he would go after any one that was smaller than him physically and socially. 

There was a pretty nasty rumour that for a while in his sophomore year he went on a spree of stabbing kids with pens.

Basically not someone that Nolan could ever care about.

“Everyone is saying you’re a bit of a hero, Noley!” Kaley said softly, making Nolan’s cheeks heat. 

Before anyone could say anything about the blush Nolan knew was on his cheeks, Brett entered the room on socked feet, his school shirt unbuttoned and tie loose around his neck. 

Nolan felt his blush deepen even further at the tanned skin now revealed to him. The night before, when Brett had been busy in the bathroom, he’d buried himself in his linen, not wanting to see anything that would tempt his thoughts, but after a day of imagining doing the ‘touch my body’ challenge with Brett, with or without cameras present, he let himself look his fill.

“Um, has anyone seen my clothes?” Brett said quietly, a blush on his own cheeks. 

“I uh, gave you a drawer for your stuff.” Nolan squeaked. “The top drawer on the left if you have anymore things you want to put in there.”

“That’s lovely Nolan.” Lovey said, taking down a wine glass from the cabinet. 

“I uh, only have my school clothes and the stuff they gave me to wear to court.” 

At this his mother put down her wine glass suddenly with a clink. 

“Just your school clothes and what you were wearing yesterday.” she repeated pulling out her phone and leaving the room. 

Before anyone could say anything, or at the least Nolan could form a word around a nearly shirtless Brett, Lovey was back in the kitchen, picking up her car keys and grabbing her handbag.

“Right boys, get dressed and in the car in five minutes.” she said quickly before yelling up the stairs “Girls! Car in five! Lets go! Lets go!” 

Nolan and Brett exchanged looks before thundering up the stairs and heading into Nolan’s room to find their clothes. 

Nolan grabbed a pair of jeans and a hoodie from his closet, pulling the door closed shield himself so he can change change like some prepubescent girl. Back in his room, Brett had changed back into his clothes from the day before.

“Any idea where we are going?” Brett asked cautiously, pushing up the sleeves of his henley. 

“Knowing Lovey, God only knows.” Nolan said, grabbing a beanie from on top of his chest of drawers and pushing it down over his bed hair. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that.” Brett said, as they headed down the stairs, “What’s the deal with the name situation?” 

“What name situation?” Nolan blinked, looking back over his shoulder. 

“Lovey and Mama? How did they decide who was who?”

“Well to start with when my Mums got married their amalgamated their last names.” Nolan explained. “Mama was Maria Hollows and Lovey was Caroline Vanderway and instead of hyphenating they came up with Holloway. They didn’t want the confusion and Lovey had a friend who was raised by a step-mum that was called ‘Lovey’ and she liked it so that’s what they went with.”

“Can I ask which one is your real mum?” Brett said as they reached the ground level and were joined by Kaley and Lori. 

“People always do.” Kaley snapped, grabbing her coat from the hook, one of the few topics that would make her drop her happy-go-lucky personality and transform into a she-wolf, gnashing her teeth to protect her family. “They’re both our real mums, but if you mean who is our biological mother, then we do not know from whom the egg that we spawned from came.” 

“We can find out when we turn eighteen if we want.” Nolan explained, grabbing his phone from the charger in the living room on the way through. “But we decided that we don’t care.” 

“They each carried one of us, my money is that the egg came from the opposite mother that gave birth.” Kaley furthered. “We have the same sperm donor though, which we’ve never met nor care to, to answer your next question.” 

In the car, Lovey had the music turned up, using her phone to send an email. When they opened the doors she shoved it into the center console, smiling warmly. 

“Right, buckle in kids.” She said, throwing the car into reverse. 

“Lovey, where are we going?” Kaley asked from the very back of the SUV normally driven by their Mama, freeing up the middle seat so that Brett and Lori were not squished in, while Nolan sat up in the front. 

“Walmart, Baby girl.” Lovey relied. “It has just been reported that our friends here only have their school clothes and some stuffy court clothes. 

“Judge Holloway, you don’t have to do that.” Lori said politely, leaning over to make eye contact in the rear vision mirror. 

“Lori darling, I think you’ll find that I do.” Lovey said firmly. “And I’ve told you to call me Caroline.” 

Pulling in at Walmart, Nolan shuddered at just how many people were filling the car park, feeling mildly anxious until he spotted his Mama leaning against their sleek Toyota. Being the week before christmas the place was packed with flustered looking families with loaded up trolleys. 

“Hello my darlings.” Mama said, kissing each family member, now apparently including Brett and Lori on the cheek as they emerged from the car. 

“Grab a trolley, Noley, Kaley.” Lovey called, pointing at the trolley bay. “Right now Brett, Lori. I am not going to hear a negative word. You need underwear, socks, pyjamas.”

“Winter clothes- sweats and jeans- coats!” Mama added with a stern nod.

“Yes! Nice warm coats.” Lovey agreed. 

“Shoes? Do you need sports clothes for school?” Kaley asked Lori as they made their way into the superstore. 

“Right, divide and conquer. We’ve got our own list, you kids do clothes and toiletries and whatever else you guys need and then message when you are done.”

“Your mums are intense.” Brett whispered, as they watched the two women bustle away with a trolley between them.

“Yep.” Kaley answered, linking her arm through Lori’s. “Right, Lori, this way to women’s wear.” 

Nolan and Brett looked at each other for a moment, sizing up the other boy. 

“So, where to start?” Nolan said, grabbing the trolley while Brett looked critically at a rack of coats directly in front of them.

“Well we may as well start from the outside in, yeah?” Brett said, pulling a blue, hooded field jacket from the rack, trying it on quickly before throwing it into the cart. 

“Right.” Nolan said, “Next stop sweat pant city.” 

Trying on clothes with Brett was like something out of a romantic comedy. They quickly found a rhythm, both finding the things that Brett needed as well as the ugliest things in the store. Nolan felt at ease, laughing and joking like they had known each other for longer than a single day. 

Nolan fount that he was quickly becoming addicted to the way that Brett’s eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled. 

While they shopped, they played 20 questions, and judging by this trip and the courthouse, was probably Brett’s favourite game. 

In his mind, Nolan made a list of the things that he was learning. 

Brett was a senior, the same as Nola, although he went to his fancy private school rather than the public school. 

He was on a lacrosse scholarship to said fancy private school, with grades good enough that he hoped it would lead to a scholarship for college of his choice. 

He was six foot two inches tall, thanks to a growth spurt when he had been fifteen. 

Rare was the only way he could eat his steak, and surprisingly he adored vegetables despite not getting them as much as he wanted as a child. 

He couldn’t play any musical instruments but had been known to attempt a pretty mean kickflip on his skateboard. 

When he had had his skateboard, Brett had added sadly. 

His sister was his best friend. This had perked him up some as he spoke about how Lori might be quiet, but she was smarter and more talented than he ever was, so it was not a big deal when he had left behind his friends at his old school to get them both a place at Devenford.

Nolan could definitely relate to respect and dedication that came from being a big brother.

While he and Kaley wouldn’t hesitate to throw the other sibling under the bus of humiliation, they were both ferociously protective of the other. Nolan found it easy to relate to Brett in this regards, his pale blue eyes so understanding as he talked about his sister.

The whole experience had Nolan completely relaxed and a little enamoured, right up until the point that he and Brett were standing in front of the big wall of underwear and he was knocked completely off kilter. 

“So, what kind of thing are you after?” Nolan asked. Pushing the trolly into the section, his eyes wide as he took in just how many options were available to him. “Briefs, boxers, jock strap, long johns?”

“Uh, I uh, normally wear a jockstrap for lacrosse.” Brett mumbled causing Nolan to promptly running the trolly into a rack of socks, grabbing a packet of ankle socks in a pitiful attempt to cover his clumsiness. Brett smirked slyly, picking up a package emblazoned with the perfectly presented package of a model, the word SPORT printed across the top. 

“And day to day?” Nolan mumbled, throwing the socks on top of their pile of clothes. 

“Boxer briefs.” Brett said quietly, making his selections and adding them to their cart all the while Nolan focused on not dying from the mental pictures of Brett in only his underwear. 

“Right, so- toiletries.” Nolan coughed, never having felt so flustered in his life as he quickly pushed their trolly around the brightly lit store towards the toiletry section. “Did you like that razor I gave you? Or do you normally use a different brand?” 

“No- that kind was fine.” Brett said, following behind Nolan with a lazy smile on his face. 

As Nolan grabbed a pack of razors from the shelf and added them to the trolley, he couldn’t help but wonder if this playfulness and sarcasm was a glimpse into the Brett that existed outside of whatever had happened to him. 

“Anything else? Shaving cream? Deodorant? Toothpaste?” Nolan asked, busying himself by picking through the isle and holding up products for Brett to choose from. 

“Lube?” Brett said, holding up a small black bottle. 

It took Nolan a second of flailing to register that the bottle was printed with the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ book cover. 

“Oh my god!” Nolan hissed, looking mortified when Brett replaced the Fifty Shades bottle with a box printed with embossed, fluorescent strawberries and the words ‘Good Head’ printed across it and taunting Nolan with it.. 

“Oh Strawberry, delicious.” Brett drawled, winking at Nolan before grabbing another bottle, this one oversized with a pump action top and the word ‘SPUNK’ covering the bottle. “What about this one, this seems like value for money.”

Nolan cackled, earning a harsh look from a young man looking at the display of condoms. 

“I can’t believe it says, you know..” Nolan whispered, stepping closer to Brett so he didn’t have to speak as loud .

“If you can’t say ‘spunk’ you probably shouldn’t be handling anyone else’s.” he said solemnly, making Nolan splutter all the more. “Look it’s so worth the hundred bucks, it’s not sticky, tacky or greasy. It's perfect for anal, vaginal, masturbation, solo, sex, toys, condoms & more.” Brett read from the back of the bottle, the huge 128oz weighting making Nolan wonder just who would buy such a product. “Oh look, it reactivates with water, saliva or sweat and is the lubricant of choice for many porn stars and adult studios.” Brett read from the label, Nolan feeling himself getting redder with every word.

“Oh my god!” Nolan groaned. “You cannot be serious!”

“About the flavoured or tacky branded lube? No I wasn’t. But about lube in general-” Brett said, placing massive bottle back on the shelf before making his serious selection. “Ah, this one.” Brett said, grabbing a bottle of water based lube, the same as the bottle Nolan knew Brett had seen in his bathroom cupboard. “This is the kind I get.” 

“Is it?” Nolan whispered, adjusting the contents of their trolley to cover the large ‘ANAL’ printed on the bottle and trying not to spontaneously combust. “Right uh, anything else?” 

“Nah, I think I’m good now.” Brett said slyly, making Nolan think that perhaps Brett was enjoying his discomfort. Pulling his phone out, Nolan sent off a message to his family group chat. Getting a reply that they were at the check out waiting for them. 

“Mrs Holloway, I have some money- I can pay for me and Lori, you bringing us here is enough.” Brett argued as he and Lori’s choices had been put through and rung up. Nolan having started a loud conversation as the lube was scanned and bagged to draw away his mother’s attention.

“Brett please,” Mama said, putting herself between Brett and the cashier and pulling out her credit card as the rest of their purchases her put through. “You keep your money and let us handle this one.” 

“Mrs Holloway-” Brett continued to argue,

“Maria.”

“Maria- Lori and I can pay for our own-”

“Oh I heard you the first time, Brett. And again you can save your cash and let us pay for this.” Mama said brashly, handing her card to the pimple-faced cashier wearing reindeer antlers. 

Brett looked stunned, blinking at the woman as if he was contemplating shoving all of the new things away and making a break for it, all the while understanding that these were all purchases that he and Lori needed. . 

Nolan held his breath, only releasing it when Lori stepped forward, nudging her brother hard in the side. 

“Brett, say thank you. The Holloways are being very kind.” She said, before beaming at his parents. “Thank you two so much for all this, it’s far more than we deserve.”

“Thanks very much.” Brett croaked, loading the shopping bags back into the trolley for Nolan to push to the car. 

The fun and light heartedness that had them joking around in the personal health isle was long gone, Brett silently loading the shopping into the SUV. Nolan couldn’t believe that such a change could happen so quickly, just because his parents were choosing to share some christmas spirit, Brett had gone and turned into the grinch. 

There was definitely more to the situation, that was for sure. 

“Brett, will you go with Noley and pick up the chinese for dinner?” Mama called, seeming to read the same from the situation as Nolan and handing over the keys to the Toyota with a kind smile. “Take your time baby, we’re in no rush.” she said quieter, pressing a kiss to Nolan’s temple. Brett grunted again, finishing with the shopping and slamming the back of the SUV closed and stalking over to the Toyota. 

Nolan waved at his family, scurrying around to the driver’s seat and practically falling down into the car. 

The entire way to the chinese restaurant, Brett didn’t utter a word, instead grumbling under his breath while Nolan pretended not to notice. 

The change in Brett had knocked him off his axis, and while he could kind of understand it, he wasn’t quite sure why the reaction had been so extreme. 

It wasn’t until they had placed their order at the chinese restaurant and were back out in the car park, enjoying the crisp winter air, that Brett cleared his throat to speak properly. 

“I suppose I owe you an explanation.” Brett said grimly, kicking the parking lot dirt with the toe of his shoe. 

“You don’t have to.” Nolan said softly, wanting to give Brett a way out if he needed. 

“I really am grateful, you need to know that.” Brett said, using the side of his shoe to fill in the hole he’d dug with his toe. “But its been me and Lori for so long it’s hard to accept help when it’s so freely given. Like what is the catch?” 

“Why would there be a catch?” Nolan said, looking up at Brett from under his eyelashes, searching for answers that Brett might not be prepared to give him yet and not sure what questions he should ask to get them. 

“Why wouldn’t there be. Do your mum’s normally bring in kids for the holidays?” Brett spat back

“Not like this, but from time to time kids stayed with us when they needed it.” Nolan said, looking up at where the sun was just a dull glow on the horizon. 

“And you don’t ask for anything in return?” Brett asked, his eyes narrowed. There was definitely something in this. Something wasn’t right with how Brett was expecting something in return for kindness. 

“It’s the holidays.” Nolan shrugged. “It just makes sense.” 

“Does it?” Brett said snidely, leaning heavily on the roof of the car. “That must be nice.” 

Before Nolan could respond or ask Brett what he meant, the server from the restaurant brought out their order, cheerfully wishing them a good night. 

During the ride back to the house, Brett went back to being frosty. The lanky boy seeming to go inside himself all through dinner as well, barely speaking a word to anyone, despite Lori prompting him gently. While Nolan had unpacked Brett’s shopping, making room to hang things up at the end of his wardrobe, Brett grumbled his way through a shower before once again going through the process of shaving his face for school the next day. 

Nolan wondered if when school broke up for the holidays he’d let it grow out. 

Brett continued to slump silently around the room until they were bedded down, both staring up at the ceiling when Brett finally sighed, long and hard. . 

“Look when my mum died when we were kids we were taken in by a friend of hers, Satomi and then she got sick and died so then we couch surfed for a while and then we were in a really bad car accident which is how your mum got a hold of our case file.” 

“So you were in court the other day-” Nolan started quietly into the darkness. 

“To hear the sentence for the guy that hit us.” Brett finished solemnly,

In his bed, Nolan sat up, wondering just how Brett would react if he moved across the room to curl up with the taller boy. If he just moved the five feet across the room and wrapped him around the other boy and tried his best to hold him together in his arms. 

“And?” Nolan asked again, holding his breath for the answer. 

“Well when I turn 18 I’m not only getting the insurance from Mum’s death but a nice healthy pay out from the scumbag that went bowling for teenagers.” Brett practically spat. 

“And when is that?” Nolan asked quietly,

“April.” Brett said solemnly, “Your mum is going to try and help to keep us together until then, because once we go into the system we’ll be separated and it’ll be real hard for me to get Lori out when I’m old enough.” 

“I see.” Nolan said, staring hard into the blackness above his head, imagining how scared and lonely the two siblings must have been going through all of this he could only imagine the lengths he would go to to protect his sister and to make sure she was safe. Suddenly so many of Brett’s behaviours made sense. At dinner and breakfast he had always made sure that Lori’s plate was full before his own and that her uniform was ready for school. After dinner, he had checked over her math homework before coming in to have his shower, making sure that it was safely tucked back in her book bag before he came into Nolan’s room. 

“Yeah, so that’s me I guess.” Brett huffed, fluffing his sheets to get comfortable, clearly more relaxed now that he had all of that off of his chest. 

Nolan followed suit, flopping around in his sheets until he was comfortable, while thinking about just how thankful he was that his family had not been touched with the hardships that Brett’s had. 

He was quickly becoming very protective of Brett, promising himself as he drifted off that he would do everything in his power to protect him from anything else bad that the world was going to serve up.


	3. Chapter Three

After tossing and turning for most of the night, thinking about Brett and his admission, Nolan staggered downstairs, sitting cross legged on the coach with his coffee while his family bustled around him, getting ready for school and work. Before he’d finished his first cup and made it through his morning ritual on his phone, he was alone in the house. 

To begin with, he followed much the same routine as the day before, Nolan wandered around, ticking off minor jobs like the breakfast dishes and giving the downstairs bathroom a wipe down. However unlike the day before, and with Brett’s confesion fresh in his mind, it took all of Nolan’s strength not to rummage through their shared bathroom to find out if Brett had used his lube yet. 

Instead, he pulled out his laptop, made himself a sandwich and did some research on their house guests. 

His first step was to find the brother and sister on facebook. If he could share his bedroom with the guy, they could at the very least be facebook friends. 

To his delight and slight mortification, almost the moment he hit the send friend request button, his notification icon lit up with Brett’s acceptance of his digital friendship. 

After thoroughly stalking Brett’s page, Nolan turned to google, finding several local news articles about his lacrosse success and the accident he and Lori had been in, along with several ‘go-fund-me’ pages raising money to help in their recovery. 

Then, almost out of the blue, there it was. 

The article was old, linked to the town library archives but recent enough that there was a digital copy free to access with his public school library card. 

The article about the fire that had killed Brett’s whole family had been on the front page of The Beacon Hills Gazette. There was a line-up of pictures of the deceased, all smiling for the camera to further emphasis the horror of this even. Lori and Brett’s mum and dad, several aunts and uncles, small children and an elderly woman, possibly their grandmother. 

Twelve people. 

The article from the inside of the paper told him that the women who set the fire was serving 12 consecutive life sentences in a maximum security facility with no chance of parole. 

All in all a truly tragic backstory. 

Nolan continued to read, filing information about Brett away in his brain, filling the gaps in the picture of Brett in his mind. 

When the key turned in the front door, Nolan flailed, quickly clearing his browser history like the first time his mothers had nearly caught him watching porn. Quickly he shut the laptop, grabbing his plate and cup and taking them back into the kitchen. 

“Yoo hoo! Noley!” Lovey called, bustling in with all her work gear, this being her last day of work for the year. 

“In here Lovey!” Nolan called back, glancing at his laptop at the dining table to make sure it wasn’t going to leak all his secrets. 

Joining him in the kitchen, Lovey began to pull out pots and pans and ingredients for dinner she chatted on about her day as she began to ready their dinner. 

It took a good while before Nolan plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been building in his mind all day.

“Lovey, are Brett and Lori going to have to move out?”

 

“Well, eventually baby, we can’t make them stay here against their will.” Lovey smiled, looking up from where she was chopping vegetables. 

“But until Brett turns eighteen?” Nolan asked, apanicked. “He told me that Mama said that at their ages people won’t want to foster them so they’ll get seperated into group homes.”

“Baby? What are you saying?” Lovey said, putting down her knife, her smile turning to a frown.

“It’s only four months- that’s not that long, and this house is plenty big enough, we could even trade off sleeping in my bed if his back gets sore sleeping on the sofa bed-”

“Nolan.” Lovey said, holding up her hand and pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’ve gotten way ahead of yourself baby. This is what people mean when they tell you you have no chill.” 

Nolan blinked at his mother, realising that she was so right, and he had jumped ahead in leaps and bounds and let his mind run away with a fantasy that was based around Marcia and Greg in the terrible Brady Bunch movie sequel where they shared an attic bedroom and realise they were attracted to each other. It was something that people had been telling him for most of his life, that he didn’t have any chill to speak of and that he needed to think before barrelling head first into scenarios. 

“Oh- I uh.” Nolan stuttered, feeling his face go red. 

“Now listen, baby, your Mama and I have my work christmas party tonight so you kids will be home alone.” Lovey reminded him, pulling pasta sheets from the pantry to throw together a lasagne. “We’ll grab some time tomorrow and talk it all through then, sweet boy. Until then, keep being kind but just think it all through.” 

Nolan nodded, heading back up the stairs to his room when it became clear that head wasn’t going to get any further with his mum. 

Upstairs, Nolan grabbed fresh towels, swapping them out for the old ones in his bathroom and giving his mirror a quick wipe down. Finding a a spare acrylic caddy in the linen closet, Nolan grabbed it, arranging Brett’s toiletries to mirror his own on the vanity. 

Opening the cabinet to put an extra toothpaste away, he caught sight of his own lube and plug that he had forgotten about since the night that Brett had moved in. 

Now, Nolan wondered if it would look worse if he was to hide it back in his usual spot under his mattress. Innstead, he shoved a few loose items in front, burying the two items deeper in the cabinet and closing the mirrored door, ignoring the blush on his cheeks in his reflection. 

Back down stairs, Nolan was surprised to find the rest of the family home from school, not having heard them come in. To his dismay, his first look at Brett had him barrelling straight into the downstair bathroom, currently occupied by Mama, trying to mess up her short hair into something appropriate for her christmas party, and less like she had just stepped out of the office. 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost baby!” She exclaimed, grabbing some product and warming it on her fingers before running it through her hair, starting at the back and working forward like Jonathan from Queer Eye had taught them. 

“It’s nothing.” Nolan stammered, sitting himself down on the edge of the bathtub and trying to control his racing heart. Despite his rushed reassurance, his mother pushed passed him to look out of the door, coming back with a smug look on her face. 

“Baby.” she said, picking up a makeup brush and darkening her eye make up considerably, “Has our shirtless friend out there got you feeling funny in your tummy.” 

“Mama!” Nolan groaned, sliding himself down into the empty tub. 

“It’s ok, you know, to feel that way when you’re living in such close quarters.” She said, using a big fluffy brush to get rid of any residue under her eyes. “And you know, your sister wasn’t wrong when she said that Brett watches you too.”

“Mammmmaaaa” Nolan groaned again, sliding down further and wishing the tub was filled with water so he cou’d drown her out. 

His mother just laughed. Picking out a different brush and brushing some sparkling powder over the highpoints of her cheeks 

“Any boy would be crazy to not be made over your freckles kid.” She said, standing back to admire her handy work and deeming it acceptable for for her wife’s work party. 

“Just leave me in here.” Nolan sighed, content to just live out the rest of his life in this bathtub. 

Mama laughed again, leaning over to kiss his head before hitting the lights and leaving him to his misery. 

Nolan spent a long while, sitting in the dark and considering what his new life as ‘the weird bath boy’ would entail as his mind playing the image of shirtless Brett in his kitchen over and over again. In Seventeen years, Nolan was yet to find a boy that had sparked his interest as much as Brett had. There had been crushes, other tall boys with similar builds but none of them had had the complicated history and infectious personality that Brett seemed to have. Nolan wondered if their situation was going to make everything to complicated, if maybe by asking his mother if Brett and Lori could stay with them until Brett is 18, then maybe he was ruining his chance for happiness. Nolan was lost in his thoughts when the room was suddenly flooded with light and a still shirtless Brett slipped into the room, placing a fresh towel on the sink and going for his school pants before Nolan coughed, making Brett jump.

“What are you doing in here?” Brett startled, sounding very unlike himself as he clutched at his bare chest and his undone pants, his discovery of Nolan in the bathtub clearly a shock to him. “Oh my god, you scared me.” 

“Sorry about that.” Nolan mumbleed, trying not to focus his eyes on the long lines of Brett’s chest. 

“No, not your fault, your mama said you were in the bathroom and I assumed that she meant the one in ours.” Brett shrugged. “She suggested if I wanted to relax tonight I could have a bath and I thought I would take her up on it.” 

Nolan looked around, His mother’s had really gone ham designing this bathroom so that it nearly looked like a spa. With their master bedroom downstairs and their children nearly grown and heading to college within a few years, they had chosen to turn knock down the wall between their ensuite and the downstairs bathroom and turn it into a design masterpiece, their large collection of rainwater tanks on the edge of their property and solar panels on the roof removing any guilt for the extravagance. 

At its bones, the room matched the upstairs bathrooms with the same large, light floor tiles, white subway tiles on the walls, wooden bench tops and tap wear. However this bathroom was more spread out, with double shower heads and a bench in the shower alcove, a long bench for the duel basins and then the biggest , most exuberant tub Nolan had ever had the opportunity to soak in. 

“There’s enough room in here if you want to join me.” Nolan joked, motioning to all the empty space at the opposite end of the bath. He really had meant it as a joke, and had expected Brett to laugh it off and they could go out and join their sisters for dinner. 

What he was not expected was for Brett to swing his long legs over the side of the tub and slide down into the empty tub opposite Nolan, his legs settling on the outside of Nolans, boxing him in. 

“This tub really is huge.” Brett said, rolling up a hand towel to pillow the back of his neck as he relaxed. 

“Yeah, Mama checked the annual rainfall and did the maths on the tanks down the back to make sure that she would have enough water to run it.” Nolan explained, wondering if his discomfort would be more obvious if he was to pull his legs up so to limit their contact. “Last week we all had to have baths to stop the tanks from overflowing. We spent so much money at lush but we all smelled so good.” 

Brett smiled, making Nolan feel giddy with the closeness and the long line of Brett’s chest and throat stretched out before him. Nolan couldn’t help but let his eyes flick down to Brett’s bare chest as he chatted animatedly about his day at school and how awesome Lovey had been when she had come into the school to argue for renewal of scholarships for the next semester despite Brett not being able to play the season due to still being in rehab from the accident. 

“You should have seen her! She stormed into the school and threw down all this legal paperwork with our scholarships and had the principal practically whimpering. 

“So it all got sorted then?” 

“Yeah, your mum had them draw up official documents that we have in writing that Lori will keep her place till she graduates to stop them from pulling this again.” Brett smiled again, clearly relaxed as he scratched at his chest. 

Like his face that he kept clean shaved for school, Brett’s chest was also hairless. Nolan thought about his own chest and the fine hairs that were starting to thicken and darken up in the center. He too kept his face clean but that was mainly because his facial hair would just grow in heavy along his top lip and not really anywhere else yet. 

He wondered if Brett would mind the fuzz that ran from his chest all the way down to- 

Nolan shook himself, deciding that train of thought was far to dangerous for them while sitting in this tub. 

Brett continued to go on about his classes and his friends and Nolan’s treacherous brain supplied him with the thought that this is what it would be like to have a boyfriend that went to a different high school. 

Before Nolan could even fully process his thoughts, Kaley was barging into the room, changed from school into her comfiest winter pyjamas and looking slightly crazed. 

“Noley, come quick! The heating has gone out!” 

As Nolan climbed out of the bathtub, he looked back at Brett, hoping that the frown on his lips was because their moment was interrupted. 

In the kitchen, Lori was glaring at the panel for the central air, an orange light blinking rudely back at her. 

“It beeped three times and then shut down.” She said, poking at the power button, only to get the same three beeps and the control panel going dead. 

“We could call your Moms?” Lori suggested, “They only just left, so they can’t have gotten far.” 

“No, tonight is their christmas present to each other. They’re at Lovey’s christmas party in the city and then staying in a hotel tonight, they’ll be back in the morning to take you guys to school” Nolan replied, digging through a drawer to find the manual and the business card of the people that installed it. 

Pulling out his phone, Nolan dialed the number, only getting the out of hours message instructing him of a number he could call over the christmas break, there would however be a premium for any call outs during the holiday period. 

Fantastic. 

“Ok, so that’s me out of ideas.” Nolan said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Its not too cold yet, it’ll be fine for a night.” 

With the central air only just having gone off, the room was still warm enough that Nolan was happy to just be in a long sleeved shirt and sweats. 

Brett’s naked chest didn’t even have goosebumps yet. 

Instead of calling out for the person to fix it, or call their mothers, they agreed that they would survive one night without the heating system. 

By the time they had finished with their dinner, the lasagne that Lovey had left to warm in the oven, Nolan had to go and find some wooly winter socks, Brett long having dug into his new collection of clothes for a hoodie. 

Not long after, Kaley had raided every closet in the house, pulling out a few extra blankets and sleeping bags and finding a small heater. 

“If you guys want you can drag a mattress into my room?” She explained, pulling a beanie down onto her head after remaking her bed with all the new blankets, while Lori did the same. “If we shut the door it should stay warm enough in here with the little heater.” 

“You girls do that.” Brett said, leaning in the doorway holding Nolan’s Cookie Monster sleeping bag from when he was five. “It’s still not that cold.” 

Nolan nodded in agreement, the house had cooled down some as the night had worn on, but nothing that was unbearable. 

“Wanna watch a movie?” Nolan asked when they were back in his room, pulling out his laptop and opening the tab for netflix. 

“Yeah, Alright.” Brett said, pulling out a new pair of socks from the chest of drawers and sitting at the end of Nolan’s bed to pull them on. “As long as you don’t suggest Frozen.”

Nolan laughed, “I was thinking Ice Age.” 

Brett snorted, his whole face twisting into a smile as he pushed himself back til he was sitting flush against the headboard, kicking his legs and wiggling until he was sitting under the pile of blankets laid out on Nolan’s bed.

“I, uh, thought we would go downstairs, but this works.” Nolan said, copying Brett’s movements while holding his laptop aloof until he too was under the blankets. 

“Yeah,” Brett said, shuffling as he readjusted the pillow behind him until he was settled further, his body burning into Nolan even through all the layers of clothes. “You weren’t serious about ice age were you though?” 

“HaHa.” Nolan scoffed, scrolling through his ‘recommendations” list before hovering his cursor over a lame christmas movie. “What do you thing, lame hetero rom com?”

“The day they start making lame queer rom coms we are all doomed.” Brett drawled. “I would never leave my couch and gain 200 pounds overnight while I watch all of them on repeat.” 

“Just imagine, cute boys playing out all the tropes.” Nolan laughed, clicking the movie and waiting for it to buffer. “Oh my god, they’re roommates!” 

“One of them is secretly a prince!” Brett replied, nudging Nolan’s shoulder.

“Oh for sure, a proper Prince Charming for the 21st century.” Brett said, slipping down further on the bed and grabbing his water bottle from the nightstand and taking a swig. 

Nolan tried to ignore the way that Brett’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, instead focusing on the introduction of the film, and deciding in his mind how long it would take for the main characters to kiss.

Nolan sat stiffly through the whole movie, so aware of the boy pressed against his side, while said boy managed to slide further and further down until he was snoring into Nolan’s spare pillow. 

Nolan suffered, stealing glances at Brett’s relaxed face while he tried to concentrate on the plot of the movie, until it was finished and all he could do was place his laptop on his bedside table and slip down next to Brett, ruling out the warmth of his bed for going to sleep on the sofa bed. 

This was a friendship, Nolan reminded himself, nothing more. Just two buddies, trying not to die from exposure in a house with no heating. 

God, his life was the queer rom-com. 

Nolan focused on the ins and outs of Brett’s even breathing, closer than when he was across the room and far more soothing. 

As he settled in to sleep, Nolan tried to ignore the niggling feeling that this was definitely something that he could get used to.


End file.
